Everything about President Of The Church totally explained
In the
Latter Day Saint movement, the
President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It is the office held by
Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed successors, such as
Brigham Young,
Joseph Smith III,
Sidney Rigdon, and
James Strang. Several other titles have been associated with this office, including
First Elder of the church,
Presiding High Priest,
President of the High Priesthood,
Trustee-in-Trust for the church,
Prophet,
Seer,
Revelator,
Translator, and
Ruler (in Israel). The movement's founder,
Joseph Smith, Jr., the first president of the church, was known by all of these titles in his lifetime (although not necessarily with consistency).
Joseph Smith died in
1844 without having indisputably established who was to be his successor. Therefore, his death was followed by a
succession crisis in which various groups followed leaders with succession claims. Years later, the office of President was reorganized in many of the resulting, the largest of which are
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the
Community of Christ, and
The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite).
Joseph Smith as the President of the Church
The concept that the
Church of Christ would have a single presiding officer arose in late
1831. Initially, after the church's formation on
April 6,
1830, Joseph Smith referred to himself as merely "an apostle of Jesus Christ, and elder of the church." However, there was one other
apostle—
Oliver Cowdery—and several other
elders of the church, making the formal hierarchy of the church unclear.
In September
1830, after
Hiram Page claimed to have received
revelations for the church, a revelation to Smith stated that "no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses." Thus, Smith assumed the position as the only apostle or elder with the gift of revelation for the entire church.
In early June
1831, Joseph Smith was ordained to the "high priesthood", along with twenty-two other men (including prominent figures in the Latter Day Saint movement such as
Hyrum Smith,
Parley P. Pratt, and
Martin Harris). As "
high priests", these men were higher in the priesthood hierarchy than the
elders of the church. However, it was still unclear whether Smith and Cowdery's calling as
apostles gave them more authority than the other high priests.
On
November 11,
1831, a revelation to Smith stated that "it must needs be that one be appointed of the high priesthood to preside over the Priesthood and he'll be called President of the high priesthood of the Church ... and again the duty of the President of the high priesthood is to preside over the whole church." Smith was ordained to this position and sustained by the church on
January 25,
1832 at a conference in
Amherst,
Ohio.
In 1835, Smith revised the
Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ, changing the phrase "an ... elder of the church" to "the first elder of this Church." Thus, subsequent to
1835, Smith was sometimes referred to as the
First Elder of the church. The 1835 revision also added a verse referring to the office of "president of the high priesthood (or presiding elder)", which had since been added to the church hierarchy.
President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The largest Latter Day Saint denomination is
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The
President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the church's leader and the head of the
First Presidency, the church's highest governing body.
Latter-day Saints consider the president of the church to be a
prophet, seer, and revelator, and refer to him particularly as
the Prophet, a title originally given to
Joseph Smith, Jr..
Latter-day Saints consider the president of the church to be God's spokesman to the entire world. He is considered to be the highest
priesthood authority on earth, with the exclusive right to receive revelations from God on behalf of the entire church or the entire world. Modern presidents, however, have not generally continued Joseph Smith's practice of publishing written doctrinal revelations and visions, although most have stated that they've received such.
The President of the Church serves as the head of the
Council on the Disposition of the Tithes and the head of the
Council of the Church. The President of the Church also serves as the
ex officio chairman of the
Church Board of Education.
Establishing doctrine, infallibility, and opinion
According to the LDS Church's
Doctrine and Covenants, the president of the church is the only man empowered to receive revelation for the entire church and to change or clarify doctrine. The LDS church teaches its members "We can always trust the living prophets" and that one's "greatest safety lies in strictly following the word of the Lord given through His prophets, particularly the current President of the Church." In the church, he's "authorized to counsel and dictate in the greatest and what might be deemed the most trifling matters, to instruct, direct and guide this Saints." Members are taught to rely on the
Holy Ghost to judge, and if a revelation is in harmony with the revealed word of God, it should be accepted.
Not everything the prophet says is considered to be doctrine.
Joseph Smith, Jr. taught "a prophet is a prophet only when he was acting as such." When he declares new doctrine, "he will declare it as revelation from God, and it'll be so accepted by the Council of the Twelve and sustained by the body of the church." If the doctrine isn't accepted by the church as the word of God, members are not bound by the doctrine, even if it comes from the president of the church.
Presidents of the church have taught that God will never allow the president to lead the Latter-day Saints astray and that God will "remove" any man who stands at the head of the church who intends to mislead its members. This isn't a statement of belief that they're "infallible", but that their errors won't result in "the permanent injury of the work."
Bruce R. McConkie said, "With all their inspiration and greatness, prophets are yet mortal men with imperfections common to mankind in general. They have their opinions and prejudices and are left to work out their own problems without inspiration in many instances."
Apostle Dallin H. Oaks explains: "Revelations from God . . . are not constant. We believe in
continuing revelation, not continuous revelation. We are often left to work out problems without the dictation or specific direction of the Spirit." Thus the current prophet can clarify, correct or change any previous teachings.
As such, when speaking in his capacity as president of the church, the words of the president of the church are never considered "infallible". Members of the church are not justified in their actions if they "blindly" follow the president. The church has counseled its members that they should reject statements that contradicts what is found in the
Standard Works, "regardless of the position of the man who says it". Statements of the president of the church can be changed by a future president of the church; due to the Latter-day Saint belief in "
continuing revelation", it's accepted that a church president will occasionally revise or clarify statements of past church presidents. One
apostle of the church has taught, "Beware of those who would pit the dead prophets against the living prophets, for the living prophets always take precedence."
However, when the president of the church speaks, it isn't always in his official capacity as the president of the church. At these times, the president may offer opinion and conjecture about topics which may or may not be church doctrine or inspired by God. It may be difficult to know when the president of the church is speaking in his capacity as such and when he's offering personal opinion. Most Latter-day Saints assume that statements made by the president in sermons at a
general conference of the church or other formal church meeting would constitute statements made in the capacity of church president. However, even then, the president of the church may explicitly indicate that he's only expressing a personal opinion.
Counselors to the President
When a new president of the church is selected, he chooses counselors to assist him. Most presidents have had a minimum of two counselors, but circumstances have occasionally required more than two; for example,
David O. McKay had five counselors during the final years of his presidency and at one point
Brigham Young had eight. Counselors are usually chosen from the among the members of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, although there have been a number of exceptions where members of the church's
Presiding Bishopric or persons from the church at large were called to be counselors. Any
high priest of the church is eligible to be called as a counselor in the First Presidency. There have also been a few cases where counselors have been ordained to the priesthood office of
apostle and became members of the Quorum of the Twelve after already being chosen as counselors in the First Presidency (for example,
J. Reuben Clark). There have been other cases where counselors have been ordained to the office of apostle but
not set apart as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve (for example,
Alvin R. Dyer). Other counselors in the First Presidency were never ordained to the office of apostle (for example,
Charles W. Nibley;
John R. Winder). Whether or not a counselor in the First Presidency is an ordained apostle, he's accepted by the church as a
prophet, seer, and revelator.
Counselors are formally designated as "First Counselor in the First Presidency" and "Second Counselor in the First Presidency" based on the order they were selected by the president. Additional counselors have been designated in different ways, including "Third Counselor in the First Presidency" (for example,
Hugh B. Brown), "Assistant Counselor to the President" (for example,
John Willard Young), and simply "Counselor in the First Presidency" (for example,
Thorpe B. Isaacson). The president and all his counselors constitute the First Presidency, which is the presiding
quorum of the church. The next senior apostle to the president of the church is set apart by the president to be the
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Succession to the presidency
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when a president of the church dies, the
First Presidency is dissolved and the members of the First Presidency who were formerly members of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles return as members of that quorum. The Quorum of the Twelve, which may number greater than twelve with the returning members from the First Presidency, then becomes the presiding council of the church, with the senior apostle as its president. During this period of time, the
President of the Quorum of the Twelve is the highest ranking official in the church. After a unanimous sustaining by the Quorum, this apostle historically becomes the next church president. This appointment is only made official when the Quorum of the Twelve meets and selects their president as the next president of the church.
In modern times, the Quorum of the Twelve has typically moved quickly to reconstitute the First Presidency by setting apart the President of the Quorum of the Twelve as the president of the church within days or weeks of the late church president's death. However,
Brigham Young presided over the church for three years as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve before the First Presidency was reconstituted after the death of
Joseph Smith. The tradition of waiting for two to three years before selecting a new president continued until the death of the fourth president of the church,
Wilford Woodruff, in
1898. More recently, the surviving apostles will typically meet within a week or two in the
Salt Lake Temple following a president's death, and ordain the next president of the church, as was done in 1973, and described in detail by President
Tanner to
BYU students in 1978. At the general conference immediately following the ordination of a new president, the general membership of the church who are in attendance have the opportunity of sustaining their new leader by
common consent at a session of conference called the
solemn assembly.
Seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is important, in that the senior apostle, historically, becomes the president of the church upon the current president's passing. Specific rules have applied to special situations that have come up over time.
For instance, there have been cases where an apostle has been excommunicated or disfellowshipped, then later restored to the quorum. It was decided that in these cases, the excommunicated or disfellowshipped apostle loses his seniority in the quorum. For example, Brigham Young decided that
John Taylor was to be President of the Twelve and
Wilford Woodruff follow him in seniority due to the readmission to the quorum of
Orson Hyde, who had been disfellowshipped in
1846, and
Orson Pratt, who had been excommunicated in
1842. Young ruled in
1875 that when Hyde and Pratt rejoined the quorum, they became the newest junior members of the quorum and their previous service didn't "count" when calculating quorum seniority.
In another instance,
Ezra Taft Benson left active status in the quorum for a time when he was serving as the
United States Secretary of Agriculture in the
Eisenhower administration. In this case, however, Benson didn't lose seniority in the quorum and he became the president of the church upon the passing of
Spencer W. Kimball.
If the President of the Quorum of the Twelve has been called to be a counselor in the First Presidency, the most senior apostle not called to the First Presidency is set apart and referred to as the
Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. At the death of the president of the church, the Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve retains his position in the quorum's membership and the President of the Quorum of the Twelve takes his role as president of the quorum.
Removal
Though there has never been a popular movement in the church to have a President removed or punished, he could theoretically be removed from his position or otherwise disciplined by the
Common Council of the Church.
List of Presidents
Presidents of the Community of Christ
In the
Community of Christ, the president of the church's formal title is the
Prophet–President. The Prophet–President is the highest
priesthood leader of this denomination of Latter Day Saints. The position is composed of several roles: (1)
President of the Church, (2)
President of the High Priesthood and (3)
Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the church.
As
President of the Church, the Prophet–President is the church's chief executive and is the leader of the
First Presidency, the church's chief executive council. As
President of the High Priesthood, the Prophet–President is the church's leading priesthood official. (Since the initiation of the ordination of women in 1985, it's now possible for this position to be filled by a woman though all Prophet–Presidents to date have been men.) As
Prophet, Seer and Revelator, the Prophet–President is the Community of Christ's spiritual leader and can present revelations to the church to be added to the
Doctrine and Covenants — an open canon of scripture, which stands with the
Bible and the
Book of Mormon as sacred text. Only the Prophet-President is considered to be a prophet, seer and revealator.
Succession to the Presidency
Generally, the Prophet–President will name or ordain a successor prior to his death. Prior to 1995 these successors have been chosen according to the principle of
lineal succession. Accordingly, the first six Prophet–Presidents following movement founder
Joseph Smith, Jr. were his direct descendants.
In 1995,
Wallace B. Smith broke with the precedent of lineal succession by naming
W. Grant McMurray as his successor. In November 2004, McMurray resigned from the office of Prophet–President without naming a successor, citing medical and personal issues. The First Presidency, composed of McMurray's two counselors, continued to function as the church's chief executive council. A
Joint Council of church leaders led by the
Council of Twelve Apostles announced in March 2005 that
Stephen M. Veazey would be Prophet–President designate. Veazey had been serving as president of the Council of Twelve. Delegates elected to a special
World Conference of the church approved Veazey and he was ordained as the Prophet–President on
June 3,
2005.
List of Presidents
Presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ
In
The Church of Jesus Christ, the
President of the General Church is also a member of the
Quorum of Twelve Apostles.
List of Presidents
| # |
Picture |
President |
Life |
Service |
Length |
| 1 |
|
Joseph Smith, Jr. |
December 23 1805 – June 27 1844 |
April 61830–1844 |
14 years |
| 2 |
|
Sidney Rigdon |
19 February 1793 – 14 July 1876 |
April 61845–1847 |
3 years |
| 3 |
|
William Bickerton |
January 15, 1815 – February 17, 1905 |
July 1862– July 1880 |
18 years |
| 4 |
|
William Cadman |
April 1834 - November 6, 1905 |
July 1880– November 6, 1905 |
15 years |
| 5 |
|
Alexander Cherry |
??? - August 31, 1921 |
July 1906– August 31, 1921 |
14 years |
| 6 |
|
William H. Cadman |
December 19, 1876 - April 15, 1963 |
July 1922 – April 15, 1963 |
41 years |
| 7 |
|
Thurman Furnier |
April 21, 1888 - 1972 |
April 1963 - April 1965 |
2 years |
| 8 |
|
Gorie Ciaravino |
August 5, 1911 - April 7, 1995 |
April 1965 - April 1974 |
9 years |
| 9 |
|
Dominic R. Thomas |
September 11, 1924 - 2005 |
1974 – 2005 |
31 years |
| 10 |
|
Paul Palmieri |
April 9, 1933 - living |
2005- present |
Current |
Further Information
Get more info on 'President Of The Church'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://president_of_the_church.totallyexplained.com">President of the Church Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
